pensions

The Global AgeWatch Index ranks countries by how well their ageing populations are faring. Unsurprisingly, Sweden tops the 2013 index and Afghanistan ranks lowest. (The US is #8.) The size of the national economy isn’t a reliable predictor. Older Sri Lankans, for example, fare better than their Pakistani peers despite GDPs of similar size, because the Sri Lankan government invested early on in education and healthcare.

In his op-ed piece in today’s New York Times, David Brooks points out that conceiving of old people as detached, depressed, and ineducable is not just outdated but wrong. “The research paints a comforting picture,” he writes. Then the editorial runs into trouble, starting with its title, “The Geezers’ Crusade” — and not the geezer part.